The first iron rung tore loose in Caleb's hand.
He dropped under Recovery Walker Nine's right hip with the rung still hooked through three fingers. His left arm caught the second rung. The missing leg swung through steam below him and turned his bleeding hip toward the crossing.
He threw the loose iron away before it entered Pori Halm's boiler window.
Elara watched from her rehabilitation chair beside the treatment mat. Her right arm remained in its sling. She held Tesk Arin's exterior boiler drawing against her left knee and marked it with her left hand.
"Upper stem vents the dome," Pori said. "Opening it alone sends the lower feed backward through my wall."
Elara marked the upper stem.
"Lower cup first?"
"Half open. Full open drops the right knee before Caleb clears it."
Elara marked half a turn at Pori's interior wheel. Tesk showed the cover over the left closure ratchet. Uvek Dorr showed the broken rear catch and the square shaft behind Vena's body.
